Spousal Identity Theft is Difficult to Prosecute: Oregonian Finds Herself in a Catch-22 Situation
Spousal identity theft is difficult to prosecute as married couples are considered a single economic unit – and that is the Catch-22 situation in which Danielle Del Prado finds herself.
The Couple are in the Throes of Divorce
The couple are in the throes of divorce, citing irreconcilable differences, and Del Prado believes her wife opened a list of lines of credit in her name without her permission. Her wife, from the United Kingdom and whose identity is being withheld, no longer lives in Oregon.
Del Prado has spent the last 18 months contacting banks nationwide and has found several transactions, including an $8,000 loan in her name at a Portland credit union.
Now, as a poor credit rating holder, Del Prado has not always been successful in her attempts to persuade creditors that she is not the person responsible for raising the line of credit.
Del Prado says her wife raised another $8,000 loan and $3,000 credit at a Washington bank, while she also borrowed $350 from a bank affiliated with the Lac Du Flambeau Tribe in Wisconsin. The transactions took place in late 2022 and early 2023.
Del Prado Has Frozen Her Lines of Credit
During her 18-month investigation, Del Prado has traced about 50 denied loan applications in her name totaling $200,000, prompting her to place a seven-year freeze on all her credit.
Del Prado reported the problem to Portland Police, backed up by a stack of paperwork supporting her claims. The police suspended the investigation due to a ‘lack of tangible leads’ and suggested she pursue the matter in divorce court.
She was also unsuccessful when reporting her problems to the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office. The reason is that spousal identity theft is difficult to prosecute.
Del Prado has learned that it is difficult for prosecutors to prove guilt because married couples are considered a single economic unit, and investigators often regard such cases as a matter for the divorce courts.
If a spouse has previously used their partner’s identity with consent, it makes it difficult for prosecutors to prove guilt at times when consent was not given.
Del Prado discovered the damage to her credit rating in February 2023 when the fraud department of Gesa Credit Union in Washington asked that she verify a line of credit and application for a new checking and savings account.
She was told that the money was being sent to a Gesa Credit Union car loan account held by her spouse. The amount of the transfer matched the monthly car loan repayment.
Del Prado has decided to pay off the two Washington bank loans, as well as the credit approved by the Wisconsin Tribe to salvage her credit rating which had dropped to 590 in May 2023.
In April this year, Del Prado discovered that her wife has plans to sue her for financial support based on the affidavit from her green card process. Del Prado said the discovery broke her heart and that she felt violated.